SharePoint's multi-purpose platform allows for managing and provisioning of intranet portals, extranets and websites, document management and file management, collaboration spaces, social networking tools, enterprise search, business intelligence tooling, process/information integration, and third-party developed solutions. SharePoint can also be used as a web application development platform.

Latest news about Egnyte and SharePoint:

15.11.16. Microsoft connects SharePoint Team Sites to Office 365 Groups. Microsoft is introducing SharePoint and Office 365 team sites integration - the new feature that allows to create connected SharePoint Online team sites in seconds. Here's how the new integration works. When someone creates an Office 365 Group, the service will automatically create a SharePoint team site (with the appearance controlled by the team site administrator) that can include pages, lists, libraries and team news. SharePoint team sites provide a place where teams can communicate, share documents and work together on projects. They are easy to use and enable users create a site for every project the team is working on. Team sites are accessible on all kinds of devices so can be used by mobile workers too.

06.10.16. Microsoft released SharePoint for Android. Though Microsoft is not actively competing on the mobile OS market already for two years (i.e. not pushing its WindowsPhone), it's still very slow in releasing Android apps. Only now the company is unveiling SharePoint mobile client for Android phones and tablets. The app provides the functionality to work with team sites, documents stored in SharePoint under the main categories of Sites, Links and People. To use the SharePoint app organizations need to have an Office 365 subscription that includes SharePoint Online, with support for SharePoint Server 2013 and SharePoint 2016 to be added later. Earlier this year Microsoft released SharePoint mobile apps for iOS and WindowsPhone (though the second app is still in preview).

21.06.16. Microsoft brings SharePoint to iOS. Microsoft launched a new mobile app for SharePoint customers aimed at bringing a company’s SharePoint-powered intranet portal and its content to users’ smartphones and tablets. The app is initially available on iOS – meaning it will work on iPhone and iPad – but it will arrive on both Android and Windows platforms before year end, Microsoft says. The app works with either SharePoint Online in Office 365 or SharePoint Server 2013 or 2016 in on-premises or hybrid scenarios. It features a Sites tab that lets you visit the SharePoint sites you frequent, so you can see recent activity, files, and access these files, lists, pages, and other content on those destinations. The app also works with other Microsoft mobile apps, the company notes. For example, when you click an Office document in the app, it will launch the corresponding Office mobile app; and when you view a document library on a team site, you’ll be taken to the OneDrive mobile app for iOS.

18.06.16. SharePoint adds new document libraries. Now that SharePoint 2016 is here, Microsoft is slowly releasing SharePoint Document Libraries to its commercial Office 365 subscribers using SharePoint Online. The new document libraries take SharePoint in a more user-friendly direction. They make it easier for users to access documents, edit document metadata and push content to the top of the document library. It's a big deal — which addresses persistent complains about previous editions of SharePoint around the difficulties of use. In the long run-up to the release of SharePoint 2016, Microsoft promised to focus on user experience.

07.06.16. Egnyte launched document protection service. Cloud file storage provider Egnyte found new ways to commercialize the data it collects as documents move through its system. The new service Egnyte Protect is a document protection tool that follows a folder or document across services. Egnyte is not the first company to create compliance tools, but what makes it stand out a bit in a crowded market, is that it works across on-prem and cloud services giving companies this protection across a hybrid environment. What’s more, IT gets near real-time alerts should an unauthorized person try to access a restricted document.

02.03.16. Egnyte puts customers in control of encryption keys.Egnyte announced a new feature that lets customers control their encryption keys with either a customer-managed offering or a cloud service that requires less heavy lifting and management. Letting customers manage the encryption keys can give them finer control over security and access to the information stored via the Egynyte services — whether that involves blocking a malicious intruder or responding to a government subpoena. The customer-managed service is built into the Egnyte admin control panel and it supports a number of third-party key management services including Microsoft Azure Key Vault, Amazon Cloud HSM or a KMIP-compatible on-premises HSM such as SafeNet.

26.10.15. Egnyte adds content analytics dashboard.Egnyte, the hybrid-cloud data management services, released a new method for companies to track and manage content in their control. The new tool, called "Smart Reporting & Auditing File Service" is a dashboard environment that allows managers to dig into content creation, access and the like across their networks. It provides information about a company’s data, regardless whether it is stored on-prem or in the cloud. The tool can also track link usage, activity by device varietal, model, and what storage products are in use. It’s something like a window into what workers are doing with content at any given point. The new tool is free for all current Egnyte customers.

26.05.15. Enterprise file sharing app Egnyte comes to Apple Watch. Enterprise file storage and sharing service Egnyte, that provides an intelligent layer between cloud solutions and on-premises storage, updated its mobile apps, adding the Apple Watch to its stack. The company also refreshed mobile refresh includes its Android, iOS and Windows apps. All new apps include what the firm calls “dynamic notifications,” and the ability for administrators to onboard users while mobile. The Egnyte Watch app includes offline folder management and, of course, notifications.

09.04.15. Hybrid cloud storage Egnyte supercharges Google for Work. Enterprise file sync and share service Egnyte announced the general availability of its Egnyte for Google Apps solution in the Google Apps Marketplace. Egnyte provides Google Apps for Work customers with an open architecture to seamlessly move files between the Google Drive cloud and on-premises infrastructure, with the same folder structure and controls, bringing together the best of Google Drive and Egnyte. This new solution provides enhanced flexibility and control for teams to access and collaborate on highly confidential files stored in the company’s corporate data center and from users’ private Google Drive folders, with Google and non-Google users inside and outside of the company.

21.01.15. Cloud storage solution Egnyte adds file auditing, intelligent distribution.Egnyte announced a couple of upgrades to their hybrid storage solution, including intelligent file distribution, which can determine the best place to put a file based on usage and IT policies. They also announced a new file auditing feature that lets IT track a file wherever it goes, a feature that puts it on par with many of its competitors. Egnyte is part of the popular enterprise file sync and share market, which includes Box, Syncplicity, Dropbox and a host of others. Egnyte has always tried to differentiate itself from the pack by forgoing an all-cloud solution, and offering a hybrid approach, which lets customers store files on-premises or in the cloud.

06.08.14. Egnyte integrates with EMC data-storage hardware. Cloud stoarge company Egnyte announced integration with EMC’s VNX line of on-premises data storage hardware. The deal means that companies that have invested heavily in EMC hardware can use Egnyte on top of their current hardware stack, and get the normal benefits of cloud storage and file management without having to leave their legacy data behind. For EMC, it’s a decent way to extend the value of their physical devices. For Egnyte, it potentially opens up new customers and revenue streams. Egnyte recently announced that it would lean on Google’s cloud to store its raw customer data in the future. So if EMC were worried about cloud storage products eating at its on-premises hardware business, Egnyte could be a pretty reasonable pickup for the legacy firm. It would be interesting to see EMC pick up a company that was a growing Google cloud customer.

2013. Microsoft's social networks: Yammer vs SharePoint Newsfeed. Last year, when Microsoft acquired Yammer (the service for building enterprise social networks), it already had own the own social network based on SharePoint (now it's called SharePoint Newsfeed). And that's OK, because Microsoft bought Yammer not for the engine, but for the customer base and the image of social vendor. But now, it seems, Microsoft doesn't know what to do with two almost identical solutions. In June, Office 365 users got the opportunity to replace SharePoint Newsfeed to Yammer, and Microsoft continues to insist that Yammer - is its future and that soon Yammer will become the platform for all its business apps. But on the other hand SharePoint Newsfeed also continues to evolve. For example, today SharePoint Newsfeed app for Windows 8 has been launched. And it's very similar to Yammer app for Windows (guess where is what on the screenshots).

2013. Video: How to build company website in Microsoft Office 365. Perhaps for many people it will be a surprise, but Microsoft Office 365 allows to create a public website for your company (thanks to SharePoint Online component). The practice of building websites on SharePoint existed for a long time. But it was quite expensive (due to the cost of SharePoint licenses and Windows hosting). Second, SharePoint was originally designed for intranet portals, and for public sites it's not very appropriate. Therefore, only large companies (for whatever reasons) used SharePoint as a website engine. But with the appearance of Office 365 things changed to better. Having Office 365 subscription, small business owner can create a company website for free. And the only technical skills he needs - is Word editing. Watch the video:

2013. IBM kills Lotus. Microsoft kills SharePoint. Perhaps the two most famous brands in the history of enterprise software, Lotus and SharePoint, will soon disappear. We mean brands, not specific products. Because by renaming their products, vendors try to erase the association with outdated technologies in customer brain. For example, Lotus appeared back in the 80-s years of last century. In 1995 IBM acquired Lotus Development and began selling their products Lotus Notes/Domino. In the following years most IBM collaboration systems moved under the Lotus umbrella. But last year the revolution occurred. The last child of the Lotus family - SaaS suite LotusLive was renamed to SmartCloud for Social Business. And then the name Lotus was removed from other products. The final nail was the recent launch of Notes/Domino 9.0 Social Edition (without Lotus).

2013. Office 365 for Business: new pricing quest from Microsoft. A month after the release of Office 365 home version, Microsoft is launching the updated version of Office 365 for Business. Just like in its previous incarnation, the business version besides the office editors (Word, Excel, PowerPoint, OneNote, Access, InfoPath) contains the email server Exchange, SharePoint portal and communications system Lync. Plus all sorts of IT-friendly things like Active Directory integration and the Admin Console. And as usual, Microsoft comes up with confusing variety of subscription plans. For example, some editions don't include desktop Office apps and some - include. Some editions can be installed on 5 computers, some - just on one. Some prices are per month, some - per year. And of course, every edition has different limit in the number of users. The price of Office 365 Small Business Premium, which provides the same functionality as Google Apps, is $150/year per user (Google Apps costs $50).

2012. SharePoint 2013 will integrate Yammer, provide platform around the online version. At the SharePoint Conference 2012 Microsoft revealed some new facts about the upcoming SharePoint 2013. But nothing specific has been announced - just few promises. The exact release date is also still unknown. Microsoft's corporate vice president of the Office Division Kris Koenigsbauer promises a launch during the first fiscal quarter of 2013, which falls between October 1, 2012 and December 31, 2012. Now about the Yammer. As expected, Microsoft will integrate this social intranet service (acquired in June) into SharePoint. The integration will be done via Yammer Web Parts and Yammer Open Graph. Got it? And soon (Microsoft says) SharePoint will become a system "powered by Yammer". Ok, let's look what is the real sense of integration between SharePoint and Yammer.

2012. SharePoint 2013 will include SkyDrive Pro. Together with Office 2013 Microsoft unveiled the beta version of SharePoint 2013. This is still an early version, and we won't review it so far (in particular, it's still no information about possible integration with Yammer). But one thing is this beta has already attracted great public interest - SkyDrive Pro. We have previously reported that SharePoint is being attacked by the army of file synchronization services called "Dropbox for Enterprise", and that SkyDrive's technology should help SharePoint to overcome these attacks. And so it happens, but as usual, Microsoft has added an element of chaos to this project. Why was it necessary to create a separate service called SkyDrive Pro? Why they just not added simple file sync functionality to SharePoint without inventing new titles? It's even more confusing as SkyDrive Pro won't replace the existing off-line client - SharePoint Workspace, but will be used along with it.

2012. Microsoft buys Yammer to protect SharePoint. Of course, it wasn't a secret that Yammer (the service that invented social intranet) - is a successful startup. But no one could imagine how successful it is. Microsoft is buying Yammer for as much as $1.2 billion. Most likely, it's too big price, but Microsoft has to overpay in order to protect its flagship product - SharePoint. We have already noted that after the rapid start, SharePoint has stopped in development. And lately two threats for SharePoint have appeared. The first threat is called "DropBox for business" - the new class of tools that sync files between computers and mobile devices. And the second threat - are these solutions for building enterprise social networks (Chatter, Yammer, Socialcast, Jive, etc.). For the first threat Microsoft has an answer - SkyDrive, but the social component in SharePoint it very weak.

2012. Don't use SharePoint while walking!. For Microsoft health and safety of the users - is the highest priority. And to prevent people from falling and being injured while working with SharePoint on the go, Microsoft just doesn't release mobile clients for SharePoint (except one for Windows Phone, which is used by very few users). But there are people for whom money means more than user security. Harmon.ie (the company known for its Outlook plug-in, which allows to collaborate on files stored in SharePoint) has released a mobile application for iPhone/iPad that works as a mobile SharePoint app. Now mobile users with smartphones and tablets can collaboratively edit documents stored in SharePoint, comment them, track the history of changes and versions, agree the documents. It's so easy and convenient that people do this even while walking and because of this already 2675 were injured due to falls and other accidents. The sufferers have already created a web site protesting against the new mobile app - www.DontSharepointWhileWalking.com

2012. Microsoft SharePoint adds Firefox and Chrome support. Recently we noted that for a long time there is no news about the progress of the enterprise software superstar - intranet system Microsoft SharePoint. And today the news appeared: SharePoint 2010 finally adds full support for the third-party browsers: Firefox, Chrome, and partial support for Apple Safari. Developers say that the limitations of these browsers didn't allowed to use all the bells and whistles of the SharePoint interface before. Wow! That's a really huge achievement of SharePoint developers. There is still no word about support of mobile platforms (except Windows Phone). But there is a word about social features. Jared Spataro, Microsoft's senior director of SharePoint product management recently said that they were carefully studying the opportunities of social networking technologies for enterprise collaboration and Microsoft's approach will be to increase enterprise social features in SharePoint. Looks like SharePoint is really in crisis.